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Vijay Anand was born in Gurdaspur, Punjab, British India to well-to-do advocate Pishori Lal Anand. He was the youngest of the four Anand siblings, including producer and director Chetan Anand and Dev Anand, one of the greatest and most beloved of Hindi film stars, his sister is Sheela Kanta Kapur, who is the mother of acclaimed Indian film director Shekhar Kapur.[3]

Though Vijay Anand has had a career as an actor, screenwriter, editor, and producer, he will primarily be remembered as a director. In 1957, he made his directorial debut with Nau Do Gyarah, which he shot in 40 days.[4]

As an actor, his most memorable roles were in films Haqeeqat (1964), Kora Kagaz (1974), in which he starred opposite Jaya Bachchan, and Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978). 'Chor Chor' was a song-less thriller where Leena Chandavarkar was his heroine. He acted in 'Ghoonghroo Ki Aawaz', 'Double Cross' and 'Chhupa Rustam.'

To the younger generation of the 1990s he is also known for playing detective Sam in the television series Tehkikaat (1994).

He served a short stint as the chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification, India's censor board, a position from which he resigned, in 2002, after he ran into ideological differences with the government over introduction of ratings for adult movies.[6]

Sriram Raghavan's Johnny Gaddar, a noir style thriller is dedicated to his influence on the Hindi noir/thriller genre. It also pays tribute to him in a scene in which his movie Johny Mera Naam is being watched by a character and there he takes the name johnny to hide his identity.